The City of London workforce is morediverse on ethnic and religious grounds than the UK as a whole, with fewerwhite employees, according to a new study.

Around 12% of City workers are of Indian
origin, compared with 2.5% of the population, while 4% are ethnically Chinese
against 0.7% in the UK as a whole.

Recruitment firm Astbury Marsden said its
research found that 69% of City workers are white, compared with 88% of the
population.

Mark Cameron, chief operating officer at
Astbury Marsden, said: "Our latest research reflects the great progress
made by City employers to draw in all of the most talented staff - by
implication that means a more diverse and balanced workforce.

"The City was once seen as the
preserve of white Anglo-Saxon Protestant males and the old school network, but
banks in the Square Mile and Canary Wharf have changed radically since
then."